Special Education is not a core academic subject under NCLB guidelines. However, special education teachers must meet the federal “highly qualified” standards if they are the teacher of record (responsible for the academic grade) for students in core academic subjects.

If you are a special education teacher who is the teacher of record for students in a core academic subject, these are your options for becoming highly qualified:

Option 1: Take and pass the appropriate Praxis II test(s) in the area of your teaching assignmentOption 2: Meet highly qualified standards under HOUSSEOption 3: For each academic area you teach, take course work and pass the Praxis II test(s) or pass the Praxis II test(s) to add the endorsement

ESOL

ESOL is not a core academic subject under NCLB guidelines. ESOL teachers must meet NCLB “highly qualified” standards if they are the teacher of record (responsible for academic grade) for students in core academic subject areas.

If you are an ESOL teacher who is the teacher of record for students in a core academic subject, these are your options for becoming highly qualified:

Option 1: Take and pass the appropriate Praxis II test(s) in the area of your teaching assignmentOption 2: Meet highly qualified standards under HOUSSEOption 3: For each academic area you teach, take course work and pass the Praxis II test(s) or pass the Praxis II test(s) to add the endorsement.

Reading

Reading is a core academic subject under NCLB guidelines. Reading teachers and reading specialists must meet NCLB “highly qualified” standards if they are the teachers of record.

The reading teacher certification endorsement requires 12 hours of specific graduate credit. Reading specialist endorsement requires a master’s degree with specific course work leading to completion of the requirements.

Note: Reading credits taken for renewal credits generally do not qualify toward certification as a reading teacher or reading specialist.